Road Trip (Jenna Ortega X Emma Myers)

Chapter 3 | Jenna - On the road

I should not have taken advantage of Emma's generosity with the open tab as much as I did. And yet.

After the stinging rejection that always comes from letting straight girls tease you, I needed something to ease the pain. The bar had my favorite beer. It felt like a sign. Did every bar-and grocery store for that matter-always have my favorite beer because it was just Bud Lite? Sure. But that didn't make it any less of a sign.

So when I stumbled back to the hotel room hours later, it hurt just a little less to see Emma peacefully asleep in her bed. It hurt a little less to climb into my cold sheets and curl around the extra pillow so my arms had something to rest on. And with the alcohol making the evening woozy so I couldn't relive the moment she pulled away from me in quite as much detail, it hurt a little less to fall asleep alone.

Of course, the next morning hurt all that much more.

"I'm fine," I insisted for the fifth time when Emma shot me another worried glance. I pressed a cold bottled orange juice from the hotel breakfast bar against my forehead and tried not to wince too visibly at the bang of the truck's rear door flying upwards.

"I promise, I'm okay. You're paying me to stay on schedule, aren't you?"

"No," she said in that deliciously smooth voice of hers. Wow, I needed to get over this hopeless crush soon.

"I'm paying you to keep me alive. I'm not convinced you can do that right now." She tried to take my duffel to load it herself, but I couldn't allow that.

I brushed her off and tossed the bag into the taped-out area, why was she so intense? and clambered awkwardly onto the trailer. Something in my head went off when my foot slipped and I banged my knee on the bumper. Had we talked about this last night? I couldn't remember. With a groan, I stretched out my knee and then climbed to my feet.

"See? Totally okay." I reached up to pull the door down and saw Emma look away quickly. I had tried to wear something less revealing today after she made fun of my tank top last night. I still wasn't quite hitting the mark of what she expected. I'd have to buy baggier clothes at the next gas station if I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. I sighed as I latched the door. There was a chunk of the money I was making on this trip.

But Emma just shook her head and pulled the keys from my hand.

"I'm driving," she said, calm and self-assured as always.

"You can take over when we stop for gas. You should nap in the meantime."

She disappeared around the side of the truck, and I heard the driver's door slam. I ran to jump in the passenger side.

Emma shifted into gear and pulled away from the curb expertly. I gaped at her.

"Excuse me, what is going on?" She raised an eyebrow but didn't take her eyes off the parking lot we now cruised through. I continued.

"You hired me specifically to be your driver. The ad said I needed a CDL for a trailer this size. It said I would be expected to drive the whole way. I thought you couldn't drive this!"

She smiled a tight-lipped thing that made me wonder if I shouldn't push this.

"I never said I couldn't drive it."

I let out a bark of a laugh.

"I drove the whole day yesterday!"

She shrugged, taking a turn a little faster than I would have. "I needed to make sure you had some sort of work ethic if you're going to be my only help for two weeks. I couldn't have you slacking."

Furious, I crossed my arms. "So yesterday was some sort of test?"

Her smile relaxed a little, and I felt myself softening despite my better judgment.